Why is the Campus Bio-Medico University located on Álvaro del Portillo street?

Because Mons. Álvaro del Portillo is the inspirer of the University. (see also: "What is the link between Don Alvaro and the Campus?")

Who was Don Alvaro del Portillo?

He was the inspiration forUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma. Monsignor Álvaro del Portillo was born in Madrid (Spain) on 11 March 1914, the third of eight brothers, into a family with deep Christian roots. He was a student of ingcivil engineering when, in 1935, he met Saint Josemaría Escrivá, who had founded Opus Dei a few years earlier, on 2 October 1928. From this meeting he discovered a new horizon of life of Faith and his vocation to holiness in the world. Having completed his studies, in 1944 he became a priest and the closest collaborator of Saint Josemaría, until he was appointed his successor in 1975. Don Álvaro died on 23 March 1994. For further details click here.

What is the link between Don Álvaro del Portillo and theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma?

Mons. Álvaro del Portillo is the inspirer of the University. At the end of the 80s he spoke to some people about a dream that had not yet been fulfilled by St. Josemaría, founder of Opus Dei: a university clinic in Rome capable of combining medical-scientific skills with attention to the patient as a person and the Christian spirit of service.

What is the link between Don Álvaro del Portillo and Opus Dei?

Don Álvaro was a 20-year-old student when, in 1935, he met St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei. The words of that priest struck him: "Where your aspirations are, your work, that is the place of your daily encounter with Christ". He joined Opus Dei and soon became St. Josemaría's strongest support. He was ordained a priest in 1944. The first successor of the founder in 1975, he was the first Prelate of Opus Dei since 1982 and Bishop since 1991. He encouraged numerous apostolic initiatives in favor of the most needy and at the service of society.

What is a Beatification?

Beatification is the act by which the Church makes publicly venerable by a group of the faithful, in specific places and ways, a Servant of God, or a person of whom it has already been ascertained previously that he lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree . It represents the second step in the path towards canonization, that is, inclusion in the Canon of Saints. Beatification differs from canonization because the latter prescribes a cult extended to the whole Church and presupposes the exercise of the infallibility of the Pope. The beatification process cannot begin before five years after the candidate's death. It aims to demonstrate the heroic nature of the virtues he practiced and the authenticity of at least one miracle that occurred post-mortem through his intercession. After the admission of heroic virtues, the Pope issues the decree by which the Servant of God can be called Venerable. Having proved the authenticity of the miracle, the Pope orders the publication of the decree of the Tuto, that is, of the security to proceed, which permits its worship.

Why is Don Alvaro Blessed?

The Church ofchiara blessed is a faithful who has fully lived the message of the Gospel and is therefore proposed as an example of Christian virtue and intercessor. To achieve beatification, the exemplary nature of life is first ascertained and then a miracle is expected obtained by addressing the future blessed and which very often consists of a scientifically inexplicable healing, obtained by praying to the servant of God. In the case of Don Álvaro, the Holy See attributed to her intercession the complete recovery, after a cardiac arrest that lasted more than half an hour, of the child José Ignacio Ureta Wilson which occurred on August 2, 2003. On the official website of the Prelature it is possible to read theinterview with little José's mother and see the testimony of the family and the doctors who treated him. This miracle, made known through the decree of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of 5 July 2013, was therefore the decisive step for the beatification of Don Álvaro, which took place on 27 September 2014.